Gov. Jared Polis Signs Farmworker Rights And Wages Law

DENVER (AP) - Thousands of immigrant farmworkers in Colorado will soon have minimum wage, overtime and labor organizing rights under a bill signed into law Friday by Gov. Jared Polis. The governor also planned to sign into law a measure to create a state fund to help indigent immigrants get legal representation in deportation proceedings.

The twin measures are part of a raft of bills passed by the Democratic-controlled Legislature to boost immigrant rights.

Farmworkers in several U.S. states have collective bargaining rights to some extent -- rights originally denied them on the basis of skin color under U.S. labor laws first adopted in the 1930s. Colorado now joins that group.

(© Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)